For The Love Of Fires In Hotel Rooms

Written By Aysha El-Shamayleh

Rolled in fire-blankets. They were catching up on their lifetimes from this moment backwards. They will live to say, "out of the blue" -I will say, out of their blues- they caught on fire, and later found an excuse in a lighted cigarette hugged by the moist lip of an opera-length cigarette-holder. Passersby mistook their throats for phonographs, when Jazz came out and echoed in my ankles, as I walked by in my independence; all sunny-side up eggs and coffee mugs satiating my breakfast appetite.


"Do not extinguish" dangled on their doorknob. Classic, we all believe in novelty. I will not apologize, I did not pray for them to survive, just found them careless, and wondered how long it will be before they end. 

You cringe. It nauseates me, love. People should know better. 

Love, as inflammable as it is, is to be kept away from matches. Needless to remind you, love doesnt rise from bitter ashes, fictitious birds do. Real love is farmed, locally. It grows in your dirt, manure and all. Sure, sweat on waists irrigates. 

But, burning out soulmates in the adrenaline rush leaves you penniless. Understand, soulmates are finite;  combustion makes you smell funny to whoever comes afterwards;  stop, slow down, dont sacrifice your widowed mother's wedding-day smile, yet another time.

I carry a sharpie with me for moments like this, because I care -I think I like that I care- but I decide not to write on hotel doors, because I do not have the balls to listen to a hotel manager call my poems "damages", or the wallet to pay for white paint. 

You ask about the kind that lasts, and pollinates seeds. That's not for everybody. I'm 3/4 sure the dirt that I am wont work for it. Its tattooed on my spine like that. 

0 Comments

Before you comment remember...
1. Don't be rude!
2. Stay on topic of the post. If you don't stay on topic, either state "off-topic" or your comment will be deleted.
3. If you want to ask an off-topic question and don't see the proper post for it, please e-mail me about it.
4. Don't spam or promote your blog or service. Please e-mail me if you'd like an add to my blog list or need for me to update your blog's URL. If your blog is similar in subject to mine, you will be added to the list.